“The Curonian Spit is so unique that it is worth seeing just like Italy or Spain especially if you want to give your soul a wonderful sight”, wrote the famous German scientist Wilhelm Humboldt at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the year 2000, the Curonian Spit (www.visitneringa.lt) was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the most beautiful and unique landscapes of Europe.

The Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann built a summer house in Nida and spent the summers of 1930 and 1931 there. Today, this house serves as the writer’s memorial exposition and the culture centre called after his name. Popular Thomas Mann festivals are hosted here every year.

The German artists-expressionists who adored the beautiful nature of the Curonian Spit used to stay at the hotel of Hermann Blode (in the 2nd half of the 19th century-the beginning of the 20th century). Artists paint in Nida all through the summer and the exhibitions of their works are held at the V. and K. Mizgiris Artists’ House. The nearby Amber Gallery-Museum introduces the history of amber, shows the full range of its colours, and displays the inclusions and the amulets of the treasure of Juodkrantė. One should visit the old cemetery of the town with the old krikštai (minor tombstones of unique shape) having survived from the ancient times. Another original feature of Neringa is its weathercocks that would indicate the belonging of a kurėnas (an ancient Curonian fishing boat) o some particular village.

The administrative centre of the Curonian Spit, the town of Neringa (pop. 2.8 thousand), is Nida settlement; another bigger settlement is Juodkrantė; Pervalka and Preila remind us of colourful fishermen’s villages. Nida boasts a great number of hotels of various levels; some of the local inhabitants rent their houses or flats to vacationers as well. The red-roofed settlement, sheltered beneath pinewoods, is exceptionally cosy and clean. The beaches of Nida and Juodkrantė have met the requirements of the Blue Banner for several years already. Nida is the warmest part of Lithuania that enjoys the biggest number of sunny days in a year. In summer, it receives more than 100,000 holidaymakers the majority of whom are guests from various foreign countries.

Juodkrantė is a fascinating settlement with a perfectly arranged and adorned promenade by the Curonian Lagoon, the reconstructed stylish old villas and fishermen’s houses abounding in flower gardens and green orchards.

It is a sin to be in the Curonian Spit and not to visit its “travelling” sand and the “dead” dunes, not to see the great colony of the black herons and cormorants settled nearby Juodkrantė, or not to enjoy the wooden sculptures on the Hill of Witches in Juodkrantė. Without seeing all that, one can hardly realise how rich and marvellous the peninsular is. Washed by the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, sometimes it creates an impression of a desert.

The Curonian Spit represents a national park. The visitors are offered a perfectly established information system indicating the location of all the objects with their descriptions in several languages.

– Antanas